U.S. Internet companies like Facebook and Google live or die on mobile. The same will be true of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba.对于Facebook和谷歌(Google)这样的美国互联网公司来说,轮回各不相同移动业务;对于中国电子商务巨头阿里巴巴集团(Alibaba Group)来说,也某种程度如此。Alibabas filing for a U.S. initial public offering boasts rapid growth and rising margins, but it raises concerns around its ability to make money off mobile traffic. This is no idle matter: Companies that cant show their business migrating well from desktops to mobile devices have justifiably fallen out of investor favor, as more people access the Internet through smartphones and tablets.在其美国首次公开发表IPO(IPO)申请人文件中,阿里巴巴提及了公司的快速增长以及不断扩大的利润率,但是这也令其外界对于该公司手机流量盈利能力的忧虑加剧。这种忧虑并非无足轻重的问题。
由于更加多的人通过智能手机和平板电脑连进互联网,所以如果一家公司的业务无法展现从个人电脑到移动设备的较好改变,那么这家公司将毫无疑问丧失投资者的注目。Alibaba says mobile accounted for 19.7% of total transactions on its e-commerce platforms in the fourth quarter of last year, up from 7.4% in the same period a year earlier. But that is only one piece of the puzzle.阿里巴巴称之为,去年第四季度,移动设备在其电子商务平台总交易额中占到19.7%,低于上年同期7.4%的占比。不过,这意味着是整体情况中的一个部分。For Amazon and eBay, mobile has been a blessing as it allows more users to shop for longer, driving volumes higher, says Bernstein analyst Carlos Kirjner. But companies that rely on advertising have faced greater challenges due to the limited real estate on smartphone screens.Bernstein的分析师Carlos Kirjner回应,对于亚马逊公司(Amazon.com)和eBay来说,移动设备是一件好事,因为这类设备可以使得用户购物时间缩短,并减少交易量。
不过,由于智能手机的屏幕受限,依赖广告的互联网企业有可能面对较小挑战。Alibaba is a mix of the two models. Tmall, its newer, higher-end shopping platform charges merchants a percentage of total sales. For this business, increased mobile adoption should be a clear positive.阿里巴巴的业务模式则分成两种。发售时间较短、较高端的购物平台天猫(Tmall)从商户整体销售额中缴纳一定比例的费用。
对于这一块业务,移动设备的利用程度减少应当显著是一个积极因素。But Taobao, the site where small business and private individuals go to sell their wares, is free to use. It sells advertising space to merchants, and charges them for more prominent placement on the marketplace website. Room for both is more limited on smartphone screens, says Mr. Kirjner.不过,针对中小型商户和个人商户的淘宝(Taobao)则是免费用于。淘宝向商户出售广告方位,同时也不会协助商户徵到网站更为显著的方位并借此收费。
Kirjner称之为,受限于智能手机屏幕,这两项服务的收益空间都更为受限。So understanding how much revenue comes from Tmall and how much from Taobao is crucial for investors to judge the outlook on mobile monetization. Unfortunately, Alibaba neglected to share this crucial information with investors.对于投资者来说,若想不见得阿里巴巴手机业务的盈利前景,对天猫和淘宝收益各自占到比多少有所理解具备至关重要的起到。但是意外的是,阿里巴巴并没将这一关键信息共享给投资者。
Alibaba does say it expects monetization rates to be lower on mobile as compared with PCs. But the company seems unconcerned, explicitly stating that it has no plans for now to focus on maximizing mobile monetization. Throughout the prospectus Alibaba is at pains to stress a lack of focus on short-term profits, probably enabled by a corporate structure giving insiders control over most of the board.不过阿里巴巴回应,预计移动设备上的盈利水平高于个人电脑。但是阿里巴巴或许并不担忧这个问题,公司具体回应目前没专心于将移动设备盈利水平最大化的计划。在整个招股书中,阿里巴巴花费了大量力气特别强调对于短期利润注目的缺少,造成这种情况经常出现的原因有可能在于董事会主要由其内部人士掌控。Investors may not be so sanguine. Concern over mobile monetization was one factor that drove down Facebook shares after they listed in 2012. The stock rebounded sharply once Facebook was able to show traction in mobile, notably from the second quarter of 2013 when mobile advertising jumped as a percentage of total ad revenue.投资者有可能没这么悲观。
Facebook 2012年上市后,投资者对该公司移动业务业绩的忧虑就是造成其股价暴跌的因素之一。Facebook的移动业务随后表明出有了快速增长迹象,特别是在是在2013年第二季度,在该公司移动业务广告收益占到广告总收入的比重下降之后,Facebook的股价经常出现了大幅度声浪。In China, mobile is likely to be even more important as many new Internet users skip desktops and rely mainly on smartphones. The number of mobile Internet users in China rose 19% last year to 500 million, nearly twice as fast as overall Internet users, according to according to state research center CNNIC.在中国,不少互联网新的用户已仍然用于台式电脑,而主要用智能手机网际网路,因此移动业务在中国可能会显得更为最重要。
来自中国互联网信息中心(CNNIC)的数据表明,去年中国的移动互联网用户数量快速增长19%,超过5亿户,增幅较整体互联网用户增幅高达将近一倍。Mobile is also where Alibaba will encounter the fiercest competition,notably from archrival Tencent. This diversified Internet giant has the advantage in mobile thanks to WeChat, a massively popular messaging app that is native to smartphones.移动业务也将是阿里巴巴面对最白热化竞争的领域,特别是在是来自腾讯(Tencent)的竞争。腾讯发售的基于智能手机的通讯应用于微信(WeChat)大受欢迎,令其这家多元化互联网巨头在移动领域占到得先机。Tencent is now using WeChat to direct potential shoppers to JD.com, a smaller Chinese e-commerce company, also preparing for a U.S. listing, in which it holds a 15% stake. It is also integrating its payment platform Tenpay, which competes with Alibaba-linked Alipay, into WeChat.腾讯目前正在通过微信将潜在消费者导向规模较小的中资电子商务公司京东(JD.com)的网站,京东也于是以打算在美国上市,腾讯持有人该公司15%的股权。
腾讯还计划将缴纳平台财付通(Tenpay)与微信统合在一起。财付通是阿里巴巴旗下支付宝(Alipay)的竞争对手。Alibaba isnt sitting on its hands. It has amassed a 66% stake in UCWeb, a popular mobile Web browser, and recently struck a deal to take full control of mapping service AutoNavi. Alibaba says it will likely make more acquisitions in this area. Yet these investments, plus intense competition in the mobile space, may start to eat away at Alibabas sky-high operating margins, which were north of 50% in the fourth quarter.阿里巴巴并没坐以待毙。
该公司已并购热门移动浏览器UCWeb 66%的股份,近期还达成协议了并购地图服务公司高德软件(AutoNavi)全部股权的交易。阿里巴巴回应,有可能将在移动领域并购更加多资产。
但这些投资,再行再加移动领域的白热化竞争,可能会开始风化阿里巴巴水平极高的营业利润率,该公司去年第四季度的营业利润率多达50%。Given the importance of mobile, investors may forgive Alibaba for some heavy spending. But the experience of Facebook and others indicates Alibaba will need to show before long that it is translating eyeballs on smartphones into real money.考虑到移动业务的重要性,投资者可能会解读阿里巴巴的一些大规模开支。
但Facebook和其他一些公司的经历指出,阿里巴巴旋即就必须向投资者表明,该公司能将消费者对其移动业务的注目转化成真为金白银的利润。
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